Is the 'biological ticking clock' pregnancy crisis a myth?

More and more women are delaying childbirth until their early thirties and
even forties, but a new study from America shows infertility rates have gone
down slightly over the past two decades, Louisa Peacock finds.

Infertility treatments are going down and yet the number of women delaying childbirth is going up, a study finds.Photo: JEZEBEL

Except this 'fact' may not really be fact, after all. Well, not as we know it or ardently believe. A new study from America has found that despite the fact women are delaying marriage and childbirth, infertility rates haven't actually changed much in the last 20 years. In fact, they've gone down a little – contrary to the popular belief that they're going up.

The percentage of adults of childbearing age (15 to 44) receiving any infertility treatment has gone down from 7.1pc in 2002 to 6.5pc in the period 2006 to 2010. Over 22,000 people were interviewed for the research.

Dr Anjani Chandra, researcher at the NCHS, told NBC News:“Infertility rates have come down a little bit. That surprises people because they think it is going up. In fact, it really hasn’t been the case.”

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Also, the number of childless women receiving treatment aged between 30 and 34 has gone down, from 17.3pc to 15.3pc over the same period.

At the grand old age of 32, this is good news for me personally: perhaps I'm not in the danger zone as much as my well-meaning wedding guests (and since then, father in law ... friends ... contacts ...) suggest.

Even for people aged 40 and over, fertility treatment has gone down from 29.1pc to 24pc. This age group receives the biggest proportion of treatment.

The only age group that does look as if it's got harder to conceive over the years is the 35 to 39 year-old bracket, where 20.1pc have received treatment nowadays compared to 1.2pc in 2002.

Nevertheless, this study just goes to show it's not as black and white as people assume. All would-be parents should remember that and not be forced to give in to societal pressures – that turn out, perhaps, to be based on a bit of a myth.